riding with losers
by amaquelin
Summary: Wally's not sure if he should be delighted or offended that Artemis is picking him up from school, and on his bike, no less.


Wally West is not a loser.

Okay, so maybe he is a nerd. And a geek. And his soul is completely devoted to science _._

But he's also friendly and sociable and is generally on good terms with everyone in the school, thanks very much, so he definitely does not require any sort of "street cred" to make him "look cooler".

He does, however, sometimes daydream about how awesome it would be if everyone knew he was Kid Flash. _Everyone_ would be clambering to speak to him and be his friend. Or maybe he doesn't even need to reveal his secret identity. He can just have Kid Flash swing by the school and talk about how freaking cool Wally West is.

He's in the midst of constructing an imaginary scenario in his head when his name is called rather sternly.

" _Wallace._ "

He jerks back to focus. His chemistry teacher is at the front of the room, a mix of amusement and disapproval on her face.

"Are you still with us?" she asks.

The class is snickering.

"Oh, uh, yes. Yes, ma'am," he stutters, then internally groans. Ugh. That _cannot_ be more embarrassing.

The laughter grows louder, an audible undercurrent through the classroom.

Wally sighs and averts his eyes. _Just a few more minutes_ , he tells himself. _Just a few more minutes till I can get to the Cave._

When the bell rings he's the first one out the door, sprinting as fast as he can without using super speed to throw his books in his locker and grab his bag. He joins the crowd of students towards the main door, unable to speed up with all the people blocking him.

He's almost bouncing on his feet, however, and he manages to break free and dash out onto the courtyard, a smile of relief and exhilaration on his fast. Now he just has to get out of the gates and round the corner before he can sprint—

"West! Heads up!"

He registers that he's using his speed when everything is suddenly in slow motion. There's a soccer ball headed straight for him. He sighs and resigns to his fate, waiting for the crawling seconds to pass so he can get hit and get it over with.

Sure enough, everything snaps back to normal speed once the ball collides with his forehead. He grits his teeth in a hiss. One hand immediately goes to rub at the sore spot that's already beginning to fade. Super fast healing, after all.

The culprit comes jogging up to him, laughter in his voice and a not-entirely-sorry crease in his brows.

"Dude, that must've hurt!" the quarterback yells. He's a boy ugly hulking muscles and a smirk that calls for a punch. "Should've dodged quicker. You gotta build up those reflexes, man."

Wally resists the urge to roll his eyes. "Whatever."

Ugly Muscles opens his mouth again, no doubt to mock Wally and his "reflexes", when a beautiful roaring sound cuts him off. Wally's eyes narrow as he whips his head to the gate. _That sounds just like—_

Wayne Motors' Justice League standard issue motorcycles, customised for every member of the Team.

His jaw drops at the familiar sleek yellow. His eyes follow the long, jeans-clad leg up to _his_ rider jacket and the cascading blonde ponytail. The rider pulls off her black helmet, the action causing her jacket to lift open and revealing a cropped sleeveless top held up by two thin spaghetti straps.

He knows he's gaping.

A low whistle snaps him out of his reverie, and in an instant his attention is directed to Ugly, who is leering at _Wally's girlfriend_. Ugly nods to himself and begins to march forward. Wally glares.

Ugly is puffing his chest out and flexing as he tells Artemis something. Artemis is evidently Not Impressed, and Wally can't help his own silly smirk as he saunters up to them.

There's a small crowd of students gathered, an equal amount checking out the bike and the girl.

"Frankly, I'm surprised that you even _think_ you can talk to me," Artemis is saying, gray eyes cold. "And I already have a boyfriend."

Taking that as his cue, Wally catches Artemis' eyes and slides an arm around her bare waist, under the jacket. He leans down and plants a kiss on her hairline.

"Isn't this _my bike_?" he murmurs into her ear.

"Yep."

"And my jacket?"

"Mm-hmm."

He leans away and narrows his eyes at the self-satisfied twist of her lips. "Don't you have a bike of your own?"

"We're not exactly allowed to ride outside missions," her smirk widens, "so if Batman does a spot-check it'll be _your_ bike missing, not mine."

Wally gapes for the second time that day. A whine is rising up the back of his throat. "Babe! Not cool!"

Artemis throws her head back and laughs, and for a moment he forgets he's supposed to be mad at her. His eyes slide down the pretty line of her throat and he itches to have his lips and tongue and _teeth_ on it. Catching his gaze, a light blush brushes her face, but her grin turns feral.

"Let's get out of here," she says, dragging a hand down the front of his shirt to his chest to his waist. In a swift movement she's reached behind him and produced another black helmet that dangles from her fingers.

"What happened to my helmet?"

"Are you _asking_ to be known as a Kid Flash fanatic?"

Ignoring that, "do you want to drive?" he asks instead, snatching his helmet from her hands.

"Nope," she says easily. Her hands grip the collar of her (his) jacket. "Do you want your jacket back?" she mimics, already pushing it back to her shoulders. His hands fly to push the jacket back up and he glares at her, causing her to laugh again.

Pulling the helmet over his wild orange hair, he swings a leg over the bike and sits, feeling the weight of her sink in behind him.

Before they leave he chances a look back in the direction of his school; at the shocked faces and envious stares. Even Ugly is a cross between humiliated and furious.

Artemis' hands come around his waist and he smirks.

Wally West is _so_ not a loser.


End file.
